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Perceived Time Pressure and The Iowa Gam PDF
Perceived Time Pressure and The Iowa Gam PDF
636–640
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of perceived time pressure on a learning-based task called
the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). One hundred and sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
The experimental group was informed that the time allotted was typically insufficient to learn and successfully complete
the task. The control group was informed that the time allotted was typically sufficient to learn and successfully complete
the task. Both groups completed the IGT and performance was recorded. The major finding was that participants who
were advised that the amount of time allotted was typically insufficient to complete the task performed significantly
worse than those who were advised that time was typically sufficient to complete the task.
Keywords: Iowa Gambling Task; decision making; time pressure.
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Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 3, No. 8, December 2008 Perceived time pressure and the IGT 637
The SMH postulates that decision making is influenced Because perceived time pressure may affect both
by emotion-based biasing signals (somatic markers) that strategies employed and emotional experiences while
occur during the consideration of options in the decision people make real-life decisions, it is important to as-
making process (Bechara & Damasio, 2005). For every sess how perceived time pressure affects performance
decision option available, a somatic state is generated ei- on a realistic decision-making task such as the IGT. In-
ther by physiological changes within the body proper (the terestingly, opposite results are possible. When time is
“body loop”) or the brain’s mental representation of the perceived as insufficient, participants’ IGT performances
anticipated physiological responses that would take place may be improved if they rely more heavily on emotional
in the body (the “as if body loop”) (Dunn, Dalgleish, & processes, which are thought to be integral to good IGT
Lawrence, 2006). These somatic states are thought to performance (e.g., Bechara et al., 1999). Conversely, be-
aid in rapid choice selection under time pressure (Pfis- cause IGT performance is also based on cognitive pro-
ter & Bohm, 2008). When making decisions, impairment cesses (e.g., Maia & McClelland; 2004; Yechiam, Good-
of these emotional signals can adversely affect speed of night, Bates, Busemeyer, Dodge, Pettit, & Newman,
deliberation and cause people to make sub-optimal deci- 2006), the perception of time pressure may impair IGT
sions (Bechara & Damasio, 2005). For example, Manes performance because people might reduce the number of
and colleagues (2002) found that patients with emotional variables they consider when selecting cards.
processing deficits resulting from orbitofrontal lesions in
the brain evidenced prolonged deliberation and impaired
IGT performance. 1.3 The present study
The purpose of the present study, then, was to explore the
1.2 IGT in the real-world effect of perceived time pressure on IGT performance.
Although research involving the IGT has frequently fo- The experimental group was informed that the time al-
cused on clinical populations (e.g., Bechara et al., 1999; lotted was typically insufficient to successfully complete
Levine, Black, Cheung, Campbell, O’Toole, & Schwartz, the task while the control group was informed that the
2005; Best, Williams, & Coccaro, 2002), researchers time allotted was typically sufficient to complete the task.
have also uncovered daily life factors that affect IGT per- Although Cella and colleagues (2007) found that actual
formance in healthy individuals. Cella and colleagues time limits impaired IGT performance, the present study
(2007), for example, found that people who were given explored how the perception of time pressure affects IGT
less time to select a card performed worse relative to performance. The differences between these two stud-
those who were given more time to select a card. de ies are as follows: First, Cella and colleagues (2007) did
Vries, Holland, and Witteman (2008) found that, com- not provide any information to their participants regard-
pared to people in negative mood states, people in posi- ing whether the time allotted was sufficient or insuffi-
tive mood states selected more cards from the good decks cient. Rather, they instructed their participants by say-
during the second block (i.e., cards 21–40) of the game. ing, “Your task is to select one card at a time as fast as
These studies provide evidence that time pressure and you can. . . ” (Cella et al., 2007). Second, in Cella et al.’s
mood can affect IGT performance. (2007) study, the message “Too slow!” was displayed on
A question then arises as to the potential effect of the screen whenever a participant failed to make a card
perceived time pressure on IGT performance. Although selection within the specified time limit. Finally, card se-
most studies have treated time-pressure as a task charac- lections were not recorded on trials that the participant
teristic, researchers have also found that the mere percep- was too slow; this resulted in fewer than 100 trials per
tion of time pressure may affect cognitive performance participant (Cella et al., 2007). In the present study, the
(e.g., Maule & Maillet-Hausswrith, 1995). One model only instructions involving the perception of time pres-
linking perceived time pressure to task performance, the sure were provided at the start of the task and all 100
Variable State Activation Theory, suggests that impaired trials for every participant were used in the analysis. As a
decision making performance can occur when the indi- result of these differences in experimental design, the fo-
vidual feels time is insufficient to successfully perform cus in the present study shifted from exploring how actual
the task at hand (Maule & Hockey, 1993). One reason for time pressure affects IGT performance to how perceived
this is that people change the strategies they use to make pressure affects it1
decisions when they feel time pressure. For example, the
1 The present study also manipulated the amount of time each sub-
sequential comparison approach posits that people con-
ject had to make decisions on each trial of the IGT. However, because
sider fewer variables when they feel a need to make faster the effectiveness of the manipulation was questionable and because the
decisions (Aschenbrener, Albert, & Schmalhofer, 1984; manipulation did not significantly influence IGT performance, these re-
Busemeyer, 1985). sults are not discussed.
Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 3, No. 8, December 2008 Perceived time pressure and the IGT 638
2 Methods 12
.05) in performance between each individual block and 2000). Not surprisingly, Tamblyn and colleagues (1997)
all other blocks. found that physicians tend to prescribe inappropriate
medications during shorter office visits. Although more
time may be needed to optimize diagnostic accuracy, it
4 Discussion may also be beneficial for managers of HMO’s to work
more closely with their physicians in instilling a sense of
The present study was the first to investigate the rela- sufficiency in current time allotments.
tionship between perceived time pressure and IGT per- To conclude, we believe perceived time pressure can
formance. Participants who were advised that the time affect the quality of real-life decisions. The present study
allotted was insufficient performed worse than those who demonstrated that a belief of time being insufficient can
were advised that time was sufficient. This finding further impair IGT performance throughout the task. It remains
supports the Variable State Activation Theory by demon- to be determined why this happened.
strating that perceived time pressure impairs performance
on a real-life decision-making task.
It is worth noting that the perception of time pressure References
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